A successful kindergarten program provides learning opportunities as opposed to attempting to teach formal reading skills. Because the process of learning is an ongoing process children develop through the years, through consistent reading and verbal communication, you need to design an age-appropriate program that allows young readers to enhance their understanding of literature in ways they can grasp. Such programs will include oral and visual exercises. Choosing the right literature is the first step in designing such a program. For young readers, classic fairy tale stories such as "Cinderella" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" are ideal. Fables are useful as well because they often deliver messages easily understood by young readers. Dr. Seuss, Curious George and books based on some of today's popular learning shows such as "Dora the Explorer" are other options.
Oral presentation activities are a good way to help young readers articulate in their own words what they learn from a story. Oral activities could include having a child summarize in his own words what a story he read was about and what he took away from the story. This activity invites children to think about the story after he or she has read it. Putting those thoughts into words effectively helps children understand and better remember the books they read.
Many visual activities can challenge kids to think about the books they read. One activity that is especially effective, and quite a bit of fun, is to have children create and dress up in costumes representing their favorite characters from a book they've read. Another activity kids seem to enjoy is making dioramas of their favorite scenes from a book. An alternate take on the diorama is to allow children to draw or paint a favorite scene.
Have your child create his or her own character. You can allow your child to write physical attributes and create a background for his or her character. The activity can be written or spoken. Another good exercise is to make up stories with your child. You start the story, then have your child add something. You'll add something to what your child adds, continuing back and forth until the story is finished. The results this activity produces are typically unexpected and often humorous.